


catch me

by investigate1d



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Harry Styles - Freeform, Louis Tomlinson - Freeform, M/M, Mutual Pining, harry has nowhere to go, larry - Freeform, louis takes him in, they share a bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-04-17 06:38:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4656495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/investigate1d/pseuds/investigate1d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis doesn't have much to offer, but for the boy with the soft voice and an aura that feels like home, it just might be enough.</p><p>or</p><p>Louis shouldn't let a complete stranger sleep in his apartment, but he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i posted the first chapter of this about 3 weeks ago (aug 25h) and thought it would be a oneshot, and asked for some feedback so i could know whether or not to continue it as a chaptered fic, and now i've gone through the 2 chapters i have posted and redone them and have even chosen a new title (it was called 'Just This Once' before).....so i'm hoping i'll have more muse/motivation to continue with this lol so here it goes ~

“Goddammit,” Louis muttered, leaning over for a tissue to wipe the chocolate from his fingers. 

He furrowed his eyebrows, seeing as the chocolate was drying and becoming sticky rather than coming off. He stood, various wrappers falling from his lap as he shuffled into his small bathroom and quickly turned the faucet on. The water was cold, it felt good. 

Okay, it was Friday, a little past eight in the evening – and he was eating free chocolate he'd gotten at work. Pathetic? Somewhat. But was it worthwhile? No, not really. His apartment was blanketed in dirty laundry and _maybe_ he'd forgotten to put a few dishes in the sink, but the place had seen worse. Besides, it wasn't as if Louis was expecting company of any sort. Meaning he had no one to impress, especially not himself. It was a pitiful mindset, but what can you do. 

He wouldn't lie, it'd be nice to invite someone over, yeah, to actually have a reason to clean up, even if it were just for another person's presence. God knows his own isn't enough. Louis flipped the bathroom light off when his hands were clean again, and found himself wandering into the kitchen for yet another snack. He'd made a bad habit of that. 

“Oreos, fruit snacks, cereal,” he mumbled each with a tilt of his head to the side, “a granola bar, chip-” Louis' head whipped to the left at the sound of urgent knocking at the door, his cheeks reddening as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. His eyes flickered to the clock on the microwave. Nearly nine o'clock. 

Leaving his cabinets open, he made his way over, the sound repeating before he even reached it. “Yeah?" he called through the door, rolling his eyes at himself. Okay, he didn't do well with greeting strangers. Also - it _was_ almost nine o'clock. 

No reply. Only another knock, this time less urgent. 

Louis huffed, leaning forward to peek through the peep-hole. He saw a somewhat exhausted-looking male, probably near the same age as himself, and he leaned back again. It could be a trap of some sort, or a prank. Both seemed like paranoid thoughts. Either way, he didn't recognize this person at all, they seemed to be broader than him, taller, but not necessarily dangerous. But maybe he shouldn't be so quick to come to conclusions because the door was still shut. 

He opened the door, slowly, out of pure curiosity, and the stranger nearly knocked Louis over as he rushed inside with no invitation. 

“What the fuck.” Louis sputtered as he stumbled back, turning to look as the boy glanced around Louis' living room and turned to face him. 

He suddenly felt as if he'd made a mistake, his hand still gripping at the doorknob, “The fuck are you doing?” he spoke up again with slightly widened eyes, voice shaking as he watched him. 

He simply stared at Louis in return. 

The guy still didn't seem to look very menacing, even when Louis became aware of their three or four inch difference in height. 

“I need a place to stay.” 

"That's funny." 

“My mom just kicked me out – or, her boyfriend did. I don't really know. It all happened really fast, I just know that I'm basically fucked - screwed, sorry. Dunno if you're cool with cursing.” 

Oh. 

The stranger looked at Louis with wide and pleading eyes, and Louis looked away. His gut told him this guy wasn't a threat, but his common sense told him that letting him stay would be a really amateur thing to do. 

“I-” Louis looked at him again, squinting, “Are you hurt at all?” The question seemed slightly invasive, considering he didn't appear to harmed on any of his visible skin, though important nevertheless. Stranger shook his head, briefly grabbing at his own bicep to glance at. 

“Just a little scuffed up from knocking my arm against the doorframe on my way out.” he shrugged, glancing around again. 

Louis hadn't noticed the small scratches until they were mentioned. 

Louis sighed, “Just – sit down. I'll get you some water. I guess.” he mumbled, brows furrowing as he shut the door and made his way into the kitchen again. He closed the cabinets, thoughts almost too loud for his own head while he filled a cup with tap water. Why the fuck was he doing this. 

The stranger did as he was told, finding himself a seat on one of Louis' sofas, “Oh -” he mumbled, turning his head to look back at Louis, “I'm Harry, and I'm not, like, a murderer or something. I can tell you're skeptical, with me rushing in and shit. But – I'm not. So, yeah.” 

Louis turned to him, eyes comically wide, “Thank you so much for that, I'm completely reassured now.” he replied with an exaggerated hand over his chest, eyeing him for a few moments longer. 

“And - I'm Louis,” he finally managed, making his way over to the sofa to both give Harry the water and to hold out a hand for him to shake, “You can stay tonight, but just this once, yeah? Don't come running back here tomorrow or next week or - ever. I'm sorry, I just can't afford another person living here. The fact that you're probably going to need a shower in the morning is already too much. But you're already here, so.” Harry inched back, and Louis could tell he'd made him feel guilty for asking for help. Which, on one hand, wasn't his problem. But also, it made him feel like shit. 

He didn't believe himself, anyway. Louis was putty in other people's hands, he hated it. 

“Couch is yours, I guess." Louis shrugged and stood, hands resting at his hips. “Uh, one sec.” he murmured, stepping past Harry to grab a few blankets and pillows from the hall closet. 

Was he doing this? Was he really letting a complete stranger sleep some thirty feet from him? Jesus, if that wasn't directly handing disaster an invitation, he didn't know what was, "Please don't let me die tonight." he mumbled to himself. 

Louis returned, surprised to see Harry had already laid down. “Okay,” he said shortly, holding everything out to him, “if you do need a shower, take it before I leave. No offense to you, but I want you out of here the same time as I'm leaving for work.” 

Harry only nodded, head down and eyes on the blanket as he tried wrapping it around himself without getting up. Louis watched, absolutely puzzled. The guy was weird, it didn't take more than a few minutes to realize that. 

“Sorry, I'll just – head to bed. I mean – I'm not sleeping yet, it isn't even 9PM for Christ's sake, but. Anyway. Holler if you need anything? Or - come get me? I don't know? God.” Louis mumbled impatiently at himself and walked silently back to his room, deciding to leave the door open in case Harry got up in the middle of the night. 

Louis laid in silence. Normally, he'd have his TV on, or at least listen to the small radio on his nightstand. He couldn't relax, though. He felt paranoid, like he shouldn't have let this person in, but he also knew he'd have been angry with himself if he had turned him away. Was he awake in the other room? It didn't matter. Louis wouldn't get up to check. His stomach crawled at the thought of this boy sleeping on the street, and - okay. That's when Louis decided that would be his final thought of the night. He'd make himself content with temporarily housing this stranger. Because if it weren't for himself, he also decided, that Harry'd be alone right now. And it was enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters won't be coming consistently, i apologize in advance ): i'm so bad with doing things on schedule, so the only solution ?....is to have no schedule. they could come every few days, once a week, one day after the other (like this one ha), it'll be a mess (i'll try my best to do each chapter in no more than 2 weeks)

"Wake up."

Louis' eyes snapped open, a dark figure over his own. Panic flooded him and he reached out to push the figure away, "I have pepper spray!" he called out hoarsely, arms swinging in front of himself. 

Harry grunted and stepped back, "It's me, holy shit." he groaned, reaching blindly for a light switch. 

Louis winced and shielded his eyes with one hand. "What? What do you need?" he mumbled quickly, cheeks hot with embarrassment, and still, panic. 

Harry looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept a minute since they'd last seen each other. Which, when he looked to the clock on his nightstand, had been six hours ago - if you didn't count Harry popping in to ask where the bathroom was at midnight. Louis had to be up for work in two and a half hours. Damn. 

"I didn't want to eat any of your food without asking, so uh." 

"I told you I can't exactly affo-" 

"I know, but I'm so - actually - nevermind, 'm sorry." 

Dammit. 

Louis sat up, rubbed at his eyes, and then nodded. 

"Do you actually have pepper spray?" 

"No." Louis sniffled, shifting in his bed to pull his pajama pants back up. It got hot during the night. 

Harry was nice, he was. Respectful, too, but that didn't make housing him any cheaper. Unfortunately. 

Louis waddled down the hall, Harry following close behind. The kitchen lights were already on, and when Louis turned to open the refrigerator, he could see Harry was blushing. It kind of made him feel bad. 

He began rummaging through the fridge, maybe he'd have something close to expiring that he needed to get rid of? 

"What's that?" Harry asked, gesturing to a container with a post-it note on the lid. 

Louis shrugged and picked it up, the post-it note read: DONT waste me!! 

Louis half-frowned and pulled it out, opening it, "Shit, uh. I have no clue. Smells okay, though. It should be safe," he snorted and looked back to Harry with a shrug, "Want it?" 

Harry took it without thought. Louis definitely felt bad. 

But okay, he needed to give Harry his crappy food. If he made this experience better than it should be, he may try to come back. Besides, Harry wasn't getting any of his fruit or good snacks, that shit was too expensive. 

Harry began eating whatever it was that was in the container. It looked like macaroni and cheese. Either way, he seemed to be enjoying it. 

He felt awkward standing in front of Harry as he ate, so he left the kitchen to return to his room. 

"Leave the container in the sink when you're done, you don't have to clean it. Just turn the lights off before laying back down." he spoke on the way back, knowing his apartment was small enough for them to have casual conversation from nearly any two locations inside. 

The only problem now as he lay in bed again was that he wasn't tired. At all. He needed these last two hours, but he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed with Harry for waking him. Damn. 

There was a knock at the frame of his door, Louis flinched. 

"Sorry." Harry whispered. 

"'S okay." 

"I don't think I can sleep. It's really cold out there." 

"Even with the blankets?" 

"Yeah." 

Louis wasn't sure what to do, or if he could even help Harry. He sat up on one elbow and looked at him. 

"You can sit in here until you get tired, if you'd like. I'm not very tired right now, anyway." 

Louis could see Harry frown. The guy seemed sensitive. Or maybe he just had manners. 

"Don't worry about it, though," he added, Harry's expression showing embarrassment, "I don't usually sleep all the way through the night. I was bound to wake up at some point, either way." 

Harry stepped into the room, cautiously sitting on Louis' bed. 

"Oh, come on." 

Harry's cheeks flushed and shifted up to sit next to Louis, back against the headboard. The stranger was sitting in Louis' bed, how many more rookie mistakes could he make at this point. 

Louis reached behind himself to pull a pillow out from his pile, handing it to Harry to lean against. 

"Settled?" 

Harry nodded, eyeing the blanket. 

Louis felt like a parent. It wasn't exactly a bad thing, but weird nonetheless. This guy had to be his age. 

"In the meantime, we can get to know each other a bit. Dunno what good it'll do, maybe we'll get tired. Small talk has that effect on people." Louis smiled, raising a brow. 

The smile Harry returned was warm, Louis felt it. 

"I can start," Harry pursed his lips, "My parents divorced when I was about eight, I live - or lived, with my mom and her boyfriend. I see my dad a few times a month, we're on okay terms. I have a sister, she's older and she just moved out a few months ago. I've only talked to her a few times since then, she's been having a hard time adjusting and all." 

Louis nodded slowly, willing himself not to ask about Harry's mom, "Do you and your sister get along?" 

"Yeah, well. Most of the time. Like I said, we haven't talked much since she left, so I don't know if she's distancing herself from me specifically or from everyone. It's confusing." 

"I'm sorry." 

"It's okay, she's like that. It isn't a bad thing," Harry shrugged, "and you?" 

Louis folded his hands in his lap, thumbs twiddling, "Divorced parents, too. Five sisters. One Brother. Moved out a year and a half ago. 'M twenty." 

Harry let out an involuntary laugh. 

"What?" Louis laughed too, his cheeks red. 

Harry spoke in monotone, "Louis. Twenty. Single mom. No kids. Ready to mingle. Hit me up." Then he shook his head, "I'm joking, you were a bit robotic there, 'ey?" 

Louis snorted, "Let me live." 

Harry sucked his bottom lip in and shook his head, pulling his knees up to his chest, "I'm nineteen, by the way." 

"Not in college, then?" 

"Nope." 

"Me neither." 

There was a brief silence. Louis yawned. 

"Oh God, I'm boring you to death." Harry teased, and Louis laughed. Harry was nice. 

"It's literally three in the morning." 

"Right, sorry, it's three in the morning and I'm boring you to death." 

Louis' eyes rolled and he reached for the TV remote, flipping to a random channel. He turned the volume low and set the remote back down. Shifting to lay on his side, he rose his eyebrows. 

"I'll be conked out in a few minutes." 

Harry's lips pursed, and he stayed quiet. 

Louis watched him, unsure of what Harry was thinking about. He briefly thought of what it'd be like to see this guy in the daytime. And maybe not in his apartment, looking like he'd just outrun a few zombies. 

"So you're saying...?" Harry trailed off, head resting against the headboard to watch him. 

Louis scrunched his nose and closed his eyes. "I don't know what I'm saying, I'm too tired." he snorted, pulling the blankets up to his shoulders. 

Harry slid down onto his back, eyes still on Louis. 

Louis didn't open his eyes again, and his breathing only slowed. As minutes passed, he was gradually becoming aware of Louis actually falling asleep, rather than trying to trick Harry as he'd originally thought. For the longest time, Harry sat still, still too unfamiliar with this person to know how easily they were woken up. After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, Harry laid down fully. Quietly, he brought the blankets up and readjusted the pillow underneath his head. 

And he slept.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> y'all.....i'm updating this over a year later. is anyone still out there.

Louis sat at work, eyeing the clock every three minutes. The morning had been stressful, because, as expected, he hadn't kicked Harry out like he had been planning on. It had gone something like this:

"I'm going to work now.. so."

"..."

"I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. Especially while I'm _not_ here."

"..."

"Come _on_."

And that's how Louis ended up in a sour and anxious mood as he hurried off to work with a sleepy Harry settling back into his bed.

This was nuts. A stranger! That's what Harry still was. .

Every minute, every hour, and now becoming every day, Louis was growing loathsome toward himself.

The minute it turned 4:30, Louis was up at clocking out. He didn't care that by doing this he was creating more work for himself to do in the morning, he just had to get home.

In twenty minutes, he was home and unlocking the door.

The sudden smell of eggs caused him to freeze. Of course, he was aware there was someone _in_ his apartment - but cooking his food? No. Harry knew that was off limits. 

"Harry." he called out warily, the idea of re-explaining this to him already tiring him.

As Louis approached the kitchen, he noticed more smells. Coffee. Toast. Cinnamon?

Who was this guy? It was practically evening.

Harry came down the hallway, clearly from the bathroom as he wiped water on his pants, and grinned widely.

"I made...food. Not dinner food, but food." he beamed, returning to a half-empty mug of coffee.

Louis sighed quietly and set his keys on the table, "Harry.."

But Harry was already shaking his head, seemingly pleased with himself, "Nope, don't say a word. Eggs - there are still eight in the carton. Coffee, who runs out of coffee grounds? Toast - bread's cheap enough. I'll buy you a new loaf, if you want."

Louis' lips pursed and he looked between the various foods, and eventually shrugged. He was good.

"Okay."

Making his way past Harry, who looked impossibly _happier_ , Louis began making himself a plate.

"Breakfast for dinner is common enough, but the coffee, why? I have to be at work again in fourteen hours." he snorted, raising an eyebrow at him as he pulled a jar of strawberry jelly from the fridge.

"Oh - I mean. Didn't think that through on your part. Caffeine has no effect on me." Harry said, following after him to make his own plate.

Once they'd sat down and began to eat, Louis had started to think. This wasn't going to be permanent. And he had to let Harry know that, easily. He really did seem like a good guy, hell, he'd even made dinner. A weak one, but still.

"So," Louis began, taking a mouthful of scrambled eggs, "have you left the apartment today? Heard from your mom? Contacted anyone?" he asked, careful not to make eye contact in case Harry caught his intentions.

Harry gave a shrug of his shoulders and took a quiet sip from his mug, "No. But I'll reach out soon. I just want to stay clear for awhile, y'know?"

"Mm."

"Listen, I'm not - not trying to mooch off of you or anything. It's just tough, and I get that it's not your problem. And - it was pretty damn rude of me to come _literally_ barging in on you and your life, but I just had no other options. I panicked." Harry spoke in a rush, keeping his eyes on his plate.

Louis closed his eyes and carefully chewed at his toast.

"I'll go with you to talk to your mom. Or even your dad. Or your sister. I just really, Harry, cannot afford to house someone other than myself. I mean that in no way against you, believe me."

Through his eyelashes he could see Harry nodding, and eventually, smiling at him. But it seemed off.

"Yeah, okay." he whispered, inhaling through his nose.


End file.
